Nat'l labor party seeks accreditation, bets woo it for support

The Labor Party of the Philippines plans to endorse and field national and local candidates for the 2016 polls once it is accredited

WORKER. A Filipino fish port worker carries tuna before weighing it at the Fish Port in General Santos City, southern Philippines, on June 17, 2015. Photo by Ritchie B Tongo/EPA

MANILA, Philippines – A labor-based national political party has sought accreditation from the election commission in what the group calls a historic first.

The Labor Party of the Philippines (LPP) on Tuesday, September 1, said it plans to endorse and field national and local candidates for the 2016 polls once it is accredited.

The LPP underwent an accreditation hearing before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) last August 25, Rappler learned.

Associated Labor Unions (ALU) Vice President Gerard Seno told Rappler the party will "support" a presidential candidate. LPP Chairman Alan Tanjusay said the presidential bet will be selected "after they make their candidacy official in October.”

LPP has been courted as early as February by “decent groups and highly respected individuals” for the support of certain national candidates, Tanjusay told Rappler.

The party was established by ALU in December 2014 as hopefully the country’s first union-based national political party.

Tanjusay said that LPP will partner with other grassroots, marginalized, business, and community-based groups to beef up the present 120,000 regular union members of ALU.

He said the party envisions “a dynamic economy, a just society, an open democracy and a healthy environment.”

LPP was formed out of “discontent, frustration, because no one is giving even small attention” to the issues of workers “who play a vital and strategic role in the country’s national daily affairs,” Tanjusay added.

ALU is a pioneering federation of labor unions registered with the labor department in April 1954.

LABOR PARTY. Party Chairman Alan Tanjusay shows the petition for national party accreditation filed before the Comelec. Photos from ALU

What the labor sector wants

Unionists believe the country’s next leader must succeed where they believe past and present presidents have failed – ensuring Filipino laborers have a living wage enough to move out of poverty.

“Naghahanap pa kami ng pangulo na maninindigan at isusulong ang disenteng pamumuhay ng manggagawa at kanyang pamilya lalo sa sitwasyon ngayon na kung saan hindi nakikinabang ang nakararami sa pag-unlad ng ekonomiya,” trade unionist Renato Magtubo told Rappler.

(We are still looking for a president who will stand and push for decent living of workers and their families especially today when many do not benefit from economic progress.)

But according to Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, only 5 of the 98 minimum wage rates in the country remain below the poverty threshold – a feat, she said, that was achieved under President Benigno Aquino III from 2010 to June 2015.

Baldoz also said more workers received higher salaries under Aquino’s administration given the labor department’s two-tier wage system.

Labor leader Josua Mata described a pro-labor president as one who is “not afraid to go against the interests of the elites, pursue much-needed hard reforms like asset reforms and security of tenure for workers to address the scandalous inequality that we have.”

Contractual labor – seen to deprive workers of income stability and job security – comes at the forefront of issues the labor sector wants political leaders to prioritize. (READ: SONA 2015: The state of Philippine labor under Aquino)

Julius Cainglet of the Federation of Free Workers said the labor sector needs a leader who "will ensure that growth redounds" to "the working poor and those who work under precarious conditions such as contractualization, unsafe work places and receiving salaries below the minimum wage."

Cainglet said the next president must treat trade unions "as regular social dialogue partners" and "involve them in labor and economic policies."

The call comes amid waning interest in unionism and decreasing labor union density in the Philippines. (READ: Factory work and unionism). – Rappler.com Buena Bernal @buenabernal

New political party seeks Comelec accreditation

MANILA, Philippines - A newly formed national political party is now seeking accreditation from the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Officials of the Labor Party of the Philippines (LPP), a union-based political party formed by Associated Labor Unions (ALU), sat down with Comelec officials on August 25 regarding its accreditation.

"Unionized members from different industries who are the core members of the party intend to field and endorse national and local candidates including sectoral representatives in the forthcoming presidential elections on May 2016 who will espouse and promote our party platforms and programs," Alan Tanjusay, policy advocacy officer of the ALU and chairman of the LPP, said.

Established on December 2014, Tanjusay said the LPP aims to bring together members and supporters who share its values and principles to develop policies and to make communities stronger through collective action and support on issues relating to labor rights and labor standards.

Once LPP gets the accreditation, Tanjusay said party will expand its membership with various sectors of society including financial institutions, chambers of commerce, industry groups, peasant, women, fisherfolk, urban poor, indigenous peoples and the handicapped.

Registered as a labor federation at the Department of Labor and Employment in April 1954, the ALU is a pioneer aggrupation of unions in the country.

ALU manages various collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) and render regular legal, dental and social service to its 120,000 land-based and sea-based regular members.

The LPP headquarters and regional offices are located at all ALU buildings and offices in nine regions. - By Dennis Carcamo (philstar.com)

Traffic problems prompt labor group to seek 30-minute tardiness grace period

A LABOR group has asked for a 30-minute grace period for workers coming in late every day, in response to worsening traffic in Metro Manila, but an employers’ group warned that it could set a bad precedent among employees.

In a statement, the Partido Manggagawa (PM) appealed for consideration from business executives on worker tardiness.

“Since employers recognize that there is as yet no existing solution to this pressing issue, we demand that capitalists not punish workers who are late due to a problem that they have no control over,” PM National Chairperson Renato B. Magtubo said in a statement on Friday.

“Until traffic congestion is substantially reduced, such remedial steps must remain in place to protect workers.”

In particular, the group is asking employers for the following:

- a 30-minute grace period before being declared late for work;

- no warnings and salary cuts if late due to traffic;

- and a shuttle bus service for companies with at least 200 employees.

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP)-Nagkaisa faction also backed the grace period proposal.

“We ask government and employers to adjust tardiness and lateness rule on their employees and government workers to 30 more minutes maximum for the time being while there are no measures yet to address worsening traffic condition,” TUCP-Nagkaisa spokesperson Alan A. Tanjusay said via text.

While acknowledging the grueling traffic situation in the capital, an official of the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) said it could set the wrong example for workers to follow.

“The proposal for mandatory grace period would be a disincentive to those who are punctual and efficient in their work and could promote a culture of habitual tardiness,” ECOP President Edgardo G. Lacson said in a text message.

Another ECOP official said a good alternative would be allowing flexible schedules for employees while more permanent solutions to road congestion are laid out.

“I am not too clear on the mechanics of the 30-minute grace period. But in actual practice, some offices have adopted varying schemes of the so-called flexi-time,” ECOP director-general Vicente Leogardo Jr. said separately.

“Also, employers may adopt a compressed work week, which is considered valid as long as the union or workers agree to it.”

Sought for comment, the Labor department said such arrangements can be better addressed through talks between employees and management instead of prescribing government rules.

“The issue can be the subject of consultation at the company level between workers and/or unions considering the circumstances and needs of both instead of mandating it by law,” Labor Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz said in a text message.

“There are companies already under flexi-time arrangements and also those in IT sector, where they can produce their outputs without reporting physically for work.”

President Benigno S.C. Aquino III on Thursday said he plans to implement an odd-even scheme to further cut the volume of vehicles plying the local roads, but this was thumbed down by business leaders and transportation experts as a viable solution.

At present, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority is implementing a car plate coding scheme during weekdays, which restricts some motorists from taking their cars out during rush hour once a week.

Asked what the workers’ recourse could be for the long commutes daily, Mr. Lacson said all must “sleep less at night and leave their residence before the break of dawn and pray for light traffic.”

“Levity aside, authorities must deploy traffic enforcers who are fully trained, coordinated, firm and fair, and dedicated to their duties, who will not abandon their posts at the first drop of rain or when lunch break comes.”

“Motorists and pedestrians must be disciplined to follow traffic rules by way of strict apprehension of violators. A culture of compliance to regulations will be inculturated if rules are enforced fairly, consistently, and sustainably.”

Mr. Leogardo, meanwhile, said there is still a long way to go to address the worsening Manila traffic, with gradual decongestion of the capital and putting up a “highly efficient” mass transport system.

TUCP urges gov't to revive safety patrol in worksites

MANILA, Philippines - Labor group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines-Nagkaisa (TUCP-Nagkaisa) urged the government to revive the tripartite safety patrol and conduct surprise inspections in all construction work sites particularly government-funded projects nationwide.

During the Construction Industry Tripartite Council (CITC) meeting on Tuesday, TUCP-Nagkaisa spokesperson Alan Tanjusay said it is alarming that all of the 112 workplaces inspected by the safety patrol in 2012 in Metro Manila, Regions, 3, 4-A, 7 and 11 have no trained safety officers.

He said that all sites inspected also have no functioning health and safety committees, no records of accidents and illnesses, no health personnel as well as health services, and no provision for sufficient and appropriate personal protective equipment.

The CITC is composed of labor groups, workers’ association, contractors and steered by the government. It tackles issues and concerns involving construction industry and recommends industry policies to the government and to the legislature.

Composed of employers’ group, labor unions and government’s occupational safety and health officers, the safety patrol was created by the department order of the Department of Labor and Employment in 2012, invoking the visitorial and enforcement prerogatives of the Secretary of Labor as mandated by the Labor Code of the Philippines.

Meanwhile, Gerard Seno, executive vice president of the Associated Labor Unions, said the revival of safety patrol will minimize workplace accidents.

"It is because whenever there are mishaps in the workplace, it’s the construction workers who are the ultimate loser--- they end up dead or disabled physically. But accidents can be minimized if government enforce the law and employers comply with the standards on a regular basis," Seno said.

He said the breakdown of labor standards at the construction workplace was highlighted by a blatant violation by the project owners and the project contractors over the collapse of wall of a warehouse building in Barangay Ilang-ilang in Guiguinto, Bulacan on January 19.

The accident left 12 construction workers dead, including a wife and a child, and injured three others.

Two weeks later the Bulacan building mishap, two workers were killed and eleven others were injured when the installed formworks above them collapsed while a ramp is being built in a building at Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City. - By Denis Carcamo (philstar.com)